Turbine wheel



S. c. WATSON TURBINE WHEEL Filed May 18, 194-4 p'elling means.

I Patented oct. 7, 19 47 I 'rurtnma WHEEL Sydney 0. Watson, Chicago, 111., ,asal gnor to United Specialties Com corporation 01' Delaware pany, Chicago, 111., a

Application May 18, 1944, Serial No. 538,064

5 Claims.

This. invention relates to a turbine wheel of a type which may be used with gas or liquid or a mixture of gas and liquid as the drivlngor pro-v It has for one object to provide such a turbine wheel of inexpensive construction and particu-, larly to. provide a wheel formed by stamplngaj Heretofore turbine wheels have been mad of many parts in which particularly the buckets or oi. ass-s9) y 2 stamped wheel portions with which the turbines or blades are integral. Each of the "wheel portions is provided with a relatively flat portion 4.-

When assembled these portions are preferably parallel to each other and are separated from] each other by a distance equal to the thickness oi the hub flange 3. 'I'hey'are positioned one on each side of the flange and are secured thereto by rivets i or otherwise. Beyond the riveted por-' blades have'been separately made and there 10 after secured to the body of the wheel by welding. brazing, riveting or by other mechanical means and this has involved an expensive construction because of the relatively large amount of work necessary not merely in forming but in assembling the many parts 01' such a wheel and in thereafter truing the wheel or balancingit.

It is, therefore, one object of the present in-' vention to make a turbine wheel of the minimum tion the wheel members are shaped with relatively flat areas 6, 8' which are in contact with each other as shown particularly in Figure 2 and may be secured together by spot-welding l or by other means or by continuous welding.

Each of the wheel members is shaped to provide one half or a bucket or blade so that when the two mating wheel members are assembled lace to face, a series of complete buckets or blades is number of parts and to reduce the amount of work involved in making, finishing and balancing the wheel.

Another object is to make such a wheel of a minimum number of parts and form the parts by stamping so that they are both accurate and are ready for assembly upon the completion of thestamping 0r formingoperation.

Other objects will appear from time to time in the course of the specification and claims.

I illustrate my invention more or less diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings where- Figure 1 is a side elevation 01' a wheel made according to the present invention;

'Figure 2 is a'transverse section taken at the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section in detail showing the form of blades or buckets best adapted for aliquid turbine;

Figure 4 is a similar detail showing the forms of blades or buckets best adapted for a gas turbine;

Figure 5 is a view showing a modified form of hub arrangement; and

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, showing a further modification of the hub.

Like parts are designated by'like characters throughout the specification and drawings.

In the particular form here shown the wheel comprises a huh I having a central perforation and provided with grooves 2 by means of which it may be readily secured to a shaft or other part.

adequately formed. Each wheel member includes a series of radially arranged half buckets or blades. As shown in the figures these comprise the members 8, 8. Intermediate the members 8,

each'wheel is cut away as at 8. outwardly be- Tyond the buckets, and cut away.- portions 9, each wheel is provided with a. ring like flange or peripheral section 10. The sections I 0 are, as shown, in contact with each other and in substantially co-planar relationship'with the area 8.

.The peripheral sections it! may be secured together by-weld'ing, riveting or otherwise but in the form here shown one oithe members ill is provided with an extension i I which is bent about theother member I0 as at I! and thus servesto V tie the edges 01 the two wheel portions together.

The member 12 may be welded in place, brazed, riveted or otherwise secured or the mere forming of this shape in the form here shown may be suflicient to hold it in the position required and to hold the parts tightly together.

In general the device as above described comprises a hub which may be formed of cast, forged or otherwise produced material of the desired shape and two wheel members which are substantially alike and which when put together are in effect mating members or rights and lefts to produce cooperatively the complete wheel with its series of completebla'des or buckets. In general the two wheel members are formed by stamping orasimilar operation.

Prior to the stamping operation the wheels may comprise merely flat discs. They are then The hub is preferably provided with a laterally extending flange 3. The turbine wheel proper comprises in effect two separately formedor shaped into the profile shown. and the buckets are formed-by punching operations. The exact means for forming the wheel members and the exact sequence of the forming operations form may be carried out in more than one way, but in general after the wheel members are formed they are assembled on the hub and against each' other and are secured in place on the hub and to each other.

After the wheel is completed it may be partially or wholly plated or otherwise coated with metal or other material designed to resist abrasion, corrosion, shock, wear or damage of any sort. One suitable coating medium is chromium which may be applied by electro-plating or in any other well known chromium plating, coating or alloying.

The turbine wheel of the present invention may I be used either with a liquid or a gas as the propelling means and may be associated with any desired nozzle construction. It may be used in any desired type of housing. One use for which this wheel is particularly adapted is that in connection with a supercharger for an internal combustion engine in which the turbine is driven by the exhaust gases. Such gases are generally available at a very high temperature and the wheel is shaped and coated, plated or otherwise treated to resist such temperatures or the entire device may be made of stainless or other steels which are in themselves without further treatment highly resistant to high temperatures and to wear and damage of the sort incident to the use of an exhaust turbine. Since the wheel-itself is not limited in its use, however, .to an exhaust turbine, it is shown merely by itself without any particular association with any other mechanism,

In Figure a modified form of hub construction has been shown. As there shown a two part hub formed of parts 13 and I4 is illustrated. These hub parts or sections are secured together by rivets lb or otherwise. The turbine wheel members are positioned between the hub sections and are held or gripped betweenthem. As shown in Figure 5 only the inner portion of the turbine wheel members are shown and for purposes of illustration, these are numbered 16 and H. They vention is not, however, limited to a construction are perforated to receive the rivets l5 which secure the hub sections together. The hub may be of any desired diameter relative to the other parts of the assembly. If the hub parts are of suflicient diameter they may embrace a substantial part of the area of the wheelmembers and in that case such securing means as the spot-welding l of Figures 1 and 2 orother similar securing means maybe omitted and the hub sections will form the entire means for securing the wheel members together except the means which are used to secure the wheel members at or adjacent their peripheries.

.In the modified form of Fi ure 6 the structure is the same as that shown in Figure 5, except that two spacing means l8 .and I 9 have been added between the two hub members l3 and I4 and the wheel members Hi and H. The members I 8 and H are preferably formed of heat-insulating ma-- terial, or at least of material which is a poor con ductor of heat and they thus serve, when in the in which a specific hub piece is provided.

I claim:

1. In combination in a turbine wheel, a hub, a pair of sheet-like wheel members, each of said members shaped to provide portions embracing said hub, means securing said members to said hub, said members each being provided with a radially directed continuous peripheral flange, the flange bf one of said members being reversely bent and embracing the flange of the other of said members whereby to secure the peripheries of said members together, each of said members being shaped to provide one-half of a plurality oi turbine blades, the said members positioned toether so that the half blades of one member are positioned with respect to the half blades of the other member toform together a plurality of complete turbine blades.

2. In combination in a turbine wheel, a hub, a pair of sheet-like wheel members, each of said members shaped to provide portions embracing said hub, means securing said members to said members being provided with a continuous, radially directed, peripheral flange, the flange of one of said members being reversely bent and embracing the flange of the other of said members whereby to secure the members together continuously about the entire periphery thereof, each of said members being shaped to provide one-hall. of a plurality of turbine blades, the said members positioned together so that the half blades of one member are positioned with respect to the half blades of the other member to form together a plurality of complete turbine blades.

3. .In combination in a turbine wheel,- a'hub, a pair of sheet-like-wheel members, each of said members shaped to provide portions embracing said hub, means securing said membersto'the hub and to each other at said hub, each of said members being provided with a radially directed peripheral flange, the flange of one of said members being reversely bent and embracing the flange of the other of said members whereby to planar relation to the respective radially directedflanges of said members, said flanges and said co-planar, concentrically disposed portions of the members lying inface to face contact.

4. In combination in a turbine wheel, a hub, a pair of sheet-metal, unitary wheel members, each of said members shaped to provide portions embracing said hub, means securing said members to said hub and to each other at said hub, one of said memberahaving its periphery engaged about that of the other of said members, each of 'said members being sha d to provide one-halt 5 or a plurality of radially spaced turbine blades. the said members positioned togetherso that the half blades 01' one member are-positioned with respect to the half blades of the other member to form together a plurality 01" complete turbine bladeg said members being cut awayto provide V radial spaces intermediate said blades, each said member being provided with concentrically dis-- posed p rtions respectively adjacent tothe periph ery th ereoi and adjacent to the hub, at opposite'ends of said blades which portions are disposed in substantially co-planar face to face contact,- and means securing contacting portions of the'rn emberstogether at a point intermediate the periphery thereof and the hub.

51 In combination, in a turbine wheel, a pair 01 wheel members secured together about their peripheries, each of said members provided with a plurality of radially arranged cut away portions and provided intermediatesaid cut away portions with a plurality of radially arranged incomplete blade sections, said members when secured to-. gether being so positioned that each blade section or one member is positioned opposite a comet Number Name Date 1,669,951 Stitt May 15, 1928 495,216 Beers Apr. 11, 1893 752,340 Holzwarth Feb. 16, 1904.. 90 1,401,321 Darling Dec. 27, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country t Date 523,039 Great Britain July 8, 1940 6 spondina blade section of thebther member, the two blade sections of each pair cooperating to form a complete symmetrical turbine blade, said members being shaped to provide substantially co-planar annular contacting portions disposed at opposite ends oi said blade sections, and means securing annular contacting portions of said members together.

SYDNEY C. WATSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

